History was made in Vienna earlier this year, when Australia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest. Initially envisaged as a one-off to celebrate the event's 60th anniversary and Australia's long tradition of broadcasting the show, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Australian broadcaster SBS are proud to announce that Australia will participate again in 2016.

The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm will be the biggest contest for years with 43 participants, equaling the record set in both 2008 and 2011.

Ukraine will return to the contest after a one-year absence and Bosnia Herzegovina, which last competed in 2012, will also participate. Both countries have 100% qualification records to the Grand Final. Croatia and Bulgaria will return to the contest for the first time since 2013. Bulgaria successfully hosted the 13th Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Sofia last week, Malta won the contest for a second time.

Australia, which finished 5th in the Grand Final in 2015, will return to the contest. However, unlike 2015, they will compete in one of the Semi-Finals in Stockholm. The Eurovision Song Contest is an inclusive event and Australia’s participation again in 2016 is entirely reflective of this.2016 participants

The following countries will participate in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm:

Tickets for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest go on sale today at 10:00 CET at www.axs.com. Further information is available on the website of Stockholm Globe Arena (www.globearenas.se/en/events/detail/eurovision-...). It is strongly recommended that tickets are only purchased through official ticketing partners.

The draw to determine which countries will take part in each of the Semi-Finals will take place in January 2016.